


flower town

by shosyj



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Geisha, F/M, Multi, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29508639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shosyj/pseuds/shosyj
Summary: he had never seen his brother so relaxed.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Itachi, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata/Uchiha Itachi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

The teahouse was warm.

Underneath the regalia of his full dress uniform, Sasuke was sticky with sweat and the cloying humidity of the room. Smoke curled around his ankles and wrists as military officers puffed on cigarettes, faces shiny and red with laughter while geisha sat beside them, pouring sake into _sakazuki_.

The attendant led them to his brother’s usual table at the end of the room. When they were both seated, their attendant bowed. “Shizune-sama and Sakura-sama will arrive shortly,” she murmured. When Itachi hummed his assent, the old lady padded off.

“Nii-san,” Sasuke addressed his brother carefully. Itachi looked at him briefly, prompting him to continue. “Why bring me along your-” he paused, choosing the right word. “Your _excursions_?”

The corner of Itachi’s mouth twisted. “I was under the impression you enjoyed these, ah, excursions, _baby brother_ ,” he retorted.

The tips of his ears grew hot. “The sake is rich and smooth,” Sasuke replied, his face carefully freed from emotion.

“It hurts me to know you only come for the sake, Sasuke-kun,” a singsong voice said from behind him. He felt the flurry of navy silk settle beside him. He smirked in response. “Yes, well, the one who pours it is rich and smooth as well, Shizune,” he allowed. The dark-haired geisha only smiled at him, and poured sake into his _sakazuki_.

His brother laughed across from him, but then shifted his attention to the young maiko sitting beside him. “Sakura,” he acknowledged, his voice low.  
“Itachi-sama,” the girl replied, her voice husky and pleasant. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back.”

Sasuke felt the tips of his ears grow hotter at the girl’s voice. He stole a quick glance at her.

Sakura - the maiko - Sasuke corrected himself, was lighting a cigarette for his brother. She was sitting closer to him than what was usual- her thigh was pressed against his brother’s own. Her pink hair, pulled back into a high chignon, was adorned with a heavy silver comb, a gift from his brother.

He downed his sake as Itachi spoke again. “I have missed you,” he said softly.

His brother’s voice was a whisper, but he heard it nonetheless. So rarely did his brother show affection. His own wife had never heard those words, nor their mother.

Sakura giggled, her eyes soft as she looked up at Itachi. “I have missed you as well, Itachi-sama,” she replied. “Probably more than you have missed me.” Her voice was light and teasing, and Sasuke had to look away. He felt like an intruder, watching their private moment.

He held out the flat saucer in front of him, motioning for more sake. Shizune looked at him knowingly, sadness in her eyes as she poured out the alcohol for him. His mouth deepened into a straight line, looking away as Shizune sighed imperceptibly.

“I’m afraid that is all the time we have for you today, Uchiha-sama,” Shizune voiced out, looking at Itachi. “Sakura-chan has been called to dance at the theatre tonight,” she explained.

Sakura let out a moue of disagreement. “Nee-chan! We can stay for at least ten more minutes!”

Shizune narrowed her eyes at the young apprentice. “Now, Sakura.”

The pink-haired girl flushed, then bowed her head, pressing her hand briefly on Itachi’s thigh before standing up. “Itachi-sama,” she said softly.

Itachi nodded, looking at the young girl briefly. “I shall call for you soon, Sakura.”

The girl bowed again, turning to Sasuke. “Sasuke-sama,” she said, turning to follow Shizune out the teahouse. It was the first time she acknowledged him, Sasuke realized.

Sasuke turned to observe his brother. His normally hard eyes had softened, his mouth slack in a small smile. He had never seen his brother so relaxed, so open.

He looked away, ignoring the painful tightening in his chest. They both stood up to leave.

The teahouse was warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sakazuki - small, flat saucer where sake is poured
> 
> maiko - apprentice geisha


	2. Chapter 2

He found out by accident.

The small red box was left (quite conspicuously - he was _**not**_ snooping around Itachi’s room) on top of his brother’s pillow. Sasuke already knew it was for Sakura, but he still couldn’t fight the urge to peek.

It was their grandmother’s jade ring, molded from their great-great-great-grandfather’s _magatama_ to stay in touch with the changing times.

Sasuke shuddered at the implications. As the Uchiha’s prized heir, Itachi never settled for anything but the best. He graduated from military academy two years early (with all the requisite awards), and was named the youngest field marshal in Japanese history. Itachi just doesn’t fail.

And now he has his sights on the pink-haired maiko. Sakura is certainly the most celebrated geisha in Gion Kobu, and Sasuke has no doubts that Itachi would pay handsomely for her _mizuage_ and rally to be her _danna_.

But the ring — traditionally worn by the lady Uchiha, was passed on to Itachi after he wed the Hyuuga heiress last year. Giving it to some geisha, no matter how commanding, would shake up the very foundation of their clan.

Sasuke would never go as far as to call his older brother stupid, but he’s getting pretty close to it.

“Something I can help you with?”  
Sasuke stiffened. He was too engrossed thinking about Itachi and his little cherry blossom to notice his entrance.

“I - _nii-san_!” he hissed. “ _Sobo’s_ ring? For that maiko? How could you even think it?”

Itachi barely looked at him, only folding the box inside his dinner jacket.

“These matters do not concern you, baby brother,” he said. “Hinata is my wife, but she will never be lady Uchiha.”

Sasuke flinched. His brother really is going to raise heaven and hell just for the young geisha.

“The Hyuuga are proud, and the Uchiha prouder, nii-san,” he stated, but Itachi was already stepping out the door.

“Don’t worry Sasu. I never fail.”

* * *

Two months passed before Sasuke visited the tea house again.

Itachi never went a day without visiting Sakura — Sasuke could always tell by the distinct softness in his eyes and the warmth that clung to his hair. His older brother was completely taken with the young maiko.

She brushed by his shoulder before settling beside Itachi. His heart tightened around his throat when his brother greeted the girl with a very forward kiss on the cheek - he hadn’t even begun drinking yet.

“Itachi…” the maiko blushed prettily at the contact. Her pale hand came up to touch the spot he kissed, immediately drawing attention to the delicate ring around her fourth finger. So Itachi did present it to her.

Sasuke had already steeled himself to finding the heirloom on the geisha’s finger (he kept away for two whole months, _dammit_ ), but his throat still tightened at the sight. This girl really will be the fall of the Uchiha.

“I’ve finalized negotiations with Shizune,” he barely heard Itachi whisper. It was only when Sakura giggled that he realized her big sister was not with them.

“I can hardly wait to be completely yours, Itachi,” she allowed, once again pressing a hand to his thigh.

His hands burned with the desire to punch his brother’s face. Instead, he stood up quickly to make his exit.

“Nii-san,” he coughed. “I’m just - I’ll give you privacy.”

They both looked blankly at him, and he knew it was his cue to leave. He was barely out the door when he heard them laughing again. He took one last peek and saw Itachi smiling widely - perhaps the first time he’s ever seen him do so.

It would take him more than two months before he’d decide to return to the tea house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> magatama - comma-shaped beads used as jewelry from the jōmon to the kofun periods
> 
> sobo - grandmother
> 
> mizuage - the ceremony taking a maiko’s virginity (outlawed in japan in 1959)
> 
> danna - patron; pays for his geisha’s kimono, food, other necessities


	3. Chapter 3

There is a large grove of cherry blossom trees outside the Uchiha compound, lying between their property and that of the Hyuuga. It was considerable: Sasuke had no doubt it would’ve attracted more visitors if it wasn’t sandwiched between the ancestral lands of two of the most powerful families in Japan.

The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom, and already he could see the haunting perfection of the flowers, their petals so pink they were almost red. He prayed they wouldn’t appear in his dreams.

The graveyard, their mother called the grove. Sasuke didn’t understand then— _was she reciting poetry? Or are there really dead bodies beneath the trees?_ He still doesn’t understand now: _didn’t a clan with white hair used to occupy the land?_

He walks along the grove every day, waiting until the sun has reached its peak in the sky. He loved looking at the blossoms that way; the brightness of the sun burns his eyelids, and the petals almost look white in the sunshine.

He found his brother’s wife waiting for him one day, looking up at the trees that bordered their property.

“Hinata-sama,” he said as he approached, wincing at the title.

She shook her head. “There are no elders here, Sasuke-kun.”

He didn’t reply, instead observing how the petals rustled as the wind blew.

“I’m pregnant,” Hinata said slowly.

She wasn’t looking at him, but Sasuke still controlled his expression. “Is it Uchiha?” _Is it my brother’s_ went unsaid.

“How impertinent,” she laughed, turning to look at him. Her eyes were glassy. “The cherry blossoms look perfect, don’t you think?”

“All this beauty… I’d sacrifice a hundred dead bodies too if it meant getting perfection.”

So she _knew_. Sasuke stayed silent. Hinata may have married into the clan, but she is not part of the family. She is still Hyuuga, and he is Uchiha, just as Itachi is Uchiha. Family always comes first.

He stared at her. “Cherry blossoms don’t last. They bloom easily and die just as quickly,” he said.

Hinata laughed again. “Don’t be silly, Sasuke-kun. They’re never truly gone. They live in your mind, in your heart, in your soul.”

She turned to leave the grove. “Itachi-sama can do as he pleases,” she said, heading for the Uchiha compound. “He just has to be certain of the outcome he wants. Perfection can be elusive to the undecided.”

* * *

Sakura and Shizune called on their house that evening.

Sasuke’s throat tightened at the sight of her in _yukata_ , teal with patterned plum blossoms. Shizune looked exasperated, her formal _tomesode_ hanging darkly around her.

March had just begun, and she was already wearing thin clothing. To visit their main house, no less. She would’ve been expected to wear _hikizuri_ —how did her mother and big sister allow her to leave the okiya that way?

He recalled Hinata’s remark. _How impertinent._

He folded himself on the floor across from them, resting his hand on the table. Sakura’s head remained bowed.

“Sasuke-sama, thank you for meeting with us today,” Shizune began.

He was confused. _Meet with him?_ He assumed they were there for Itachi, but he realized faintly that the house was empty when he arrived. Was this their mother’s doing?

He merely nodded.

“As you know, Sakura will be turning 18 at the end of the month. We’ve decided it would be the perfect time for her to make her debut as geisha…”

Sakura suddenly looked up at him, wordlessly sliding a small red box across the table. His ears burned as he took it, her eyes never leaving his.

He then balked as he realized what it was for.

“Shizune! _Nii-san_ —!”

Hadn’t he heard Itachi telling Sakura he had finalized negotiations in December? She had said she can’t wait to be completely his. _Why were they here?_

Shizune ignored him, clucking her disapproval. “Sakura will debut as full geisha when she turns 18,” she said firmly.

Sasuke looked down when they stood to leave, averting his eyes as the yukata hitched up Sakura’s legs and exposed her feet.

Shizune clucked again in annoyance, but Sakura just bowed deeply.

“Sasuke-sama.”

As the attendant slid the door after them, Sasuke curled onto himself and opened the box.

 _Ekubo_. Pure white rice cake with a red dot on the center.

He had been invited to bid for Sakura’s _mizuage_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for your lovely comments! to clear things up, the story is set in 1937, just a few years before the war breaks. The story begins in October.
> 
> Now for the notes:
> 
> \- Mikoto’s graveyard remark references the opening lines of Motojiro Kaiji’s Under the Cherry Trees: “Dead bodies are buried under cherry blossoms! You have to believe it. Otherwise, you couldn’t possibly explain the beauty of the cherry blossom”
> 
> \- Kimono worn by Sakura and Shizune:
> 
> Yukata - worn in the summer  
> Tomesode - formal kimono worn by geisha  
> Hikizuri - formal kimono worn by maiko
> 
> \- Geisha are not supposed to display their bare feet, hence Shizune's annoyance with Sakura
> 
> \- Okiya - geisha house run by a “mother,” big sister refers to a geisha that trains a maiko
> 
> \- Ekubo - rice cake used to invite bidders for a maiko’s mizuage


End file.
